AS they assessed the pre-Broadway tryout of the new musical “American Idiot” in California last fall, the director, Michael Mayer, and his creative team kept coming back to the same question: Should they add more dialogue to flesh out the tormented journeys of the three main characters or continue to rely on the songs — by the band Green Day — to do the storytelling?
At 95 minutes, perhaps the musical could be clarified by giving more lines to the best friends at its core: Johnny, whose pursuit of big city life is hobbled by drug addiction; Tunny, whose intoxication with patriotism and war has horrifying consequences; and Will, who is left behind with a pregnant girlfriend and a much-used bong.
[Full article at New York Times]